Tripping Without Drugs? Meditation, Buzzing Noises, and Flashing Lights.
I have heard countless people talk about reaching a highly altered state of consciousness through non-chemical means. Being the type of person that I am and being a big fan of becoming altered, I have ventured into this arena myself. The results have been mixed at best. Some of these techniques have been little more than rumor and some were outright lies but a handful seem to have some "there" there and I would like to discuss those things honestly from my own experience.
I don't want to spend too much time writing about things that have no effect at all but I will point out that there is a lot of "bunk" information, pseudoscience, and pseudo-spirituality floating around. Some people will inevitably corrupt any pursuit, no matter how noble, and the quest for psychological or "spiritual" self-discovery through altered consciousness is no different. Some good rules to go by are to question anything that requires you to spend a lot of money and avoid anyone who promises a sure thing. Right about now, you may be thinking that "drugs do cost money" and "you have argued that they are (almost) a sure thing." That is true but the difference is we know that many drugs do work exactly as advertised. If you eat enough mushrooms, you absolutely will cause a profound change in consciousness regardless of past experience or training. In that sense, the claims that are made about psychedelics are well justified. Other things don't have the same reliability and it is easy for some charlatan to say "it didn't work because you didn't believe hard enough." However, there are a few techniques that seem to be effective (to a point, at least).
Meditation works for some people but I have had little success in reaching the "visionary" state that I would like to. Quite a few respectable individuals have argued that meditation can take a person to a state of mind that is remarkably similar to a psychedelic experience. Unfortunately, I can't say that I have been able to achieve that but the logic follows. An altered state only requires a change in brain chemistry. Like drugs, deep concentration can also alter brain chemistry so the potential seems to be there, despite my own disappointing results. This is not to say that I don't feel a little different as a result of meditation. I do, in fact, feel vaguely altered after spending a few hours trying to reach that state of mind but it is still less than I would expect from a very light dose of an actual psychedelic. I can call up what I would describe as the shadows of hallucinations. I can tell there is life in the darkness of the void but I can't make it out. It never forms solid shapes and it lacks the "intelligence" that one senses with the use of psychedelics. That is enough to let me know that there is something to meditation but I, personally, can't say that I have ever gotten much out of it. There is one exception that I can think of, however, but it is questionable. I had been mediating for quite some time (an hour, maybe more) and I was struggling to stay awake. For a moment, I felt a rushing sensation as though I was falling through the floor and I briefly "saw" something that was very detailed and very solid. It was a blue building, like a fantasy castle, made of ice or crystal and it seemed quite real for a few seconds. Sadly, I can't confidently attribute this to meditation. As I said, I was near sleep and hypnagogic hallucinations are pretty common in presleep so that may be the the real cause.
Since the goal is alter the way my brain works, there are other types things that I have tried. Whether these non-drug "drugs" do anything is questionable, but one of the most promising, in my opinion, is a technique that uses flashing lights. I heard about this one recently and tried it (kind of) immediately. The idea stands to reason. We know that light patterns can cause seizures in people with epilepsy, so saying that they can have other neurological effects is not a stretch. Anyway, I was listening to a podcast that Dennis Mckenna (Terrance Mckenna's brother) was a guest on and he mentioned something called Ajna Light. Essentially, you sit under a strobing light and it can induce a DMT like experience. The actual machine is rather expensive and I have no idea where to find one so I had to settle for a recording of the light that I found on YouTube. Doubtlessly, some of the efficacy was lost but there was a "something" that I got from using it although, I would say that it was very weak. Like with meditation, I had what I would describe as a shadow of a trip. The extremely slight visuals were a little more defined and a bit sharper but they were very short lived. Five minutes after the lights ended so did the "trip." There are risks to using these lights too. If you are prone to seizures this is not something you want to try because you could be hurting yourself. That hazard makes me hesitant to recommend this to anyone since mushrooms and several other psychedelics are known to be rather safe and work far better. If Ajna Light sounds appealing to you, the videos can be found for free but be sure that you are okay with the risk that you are taking.
I have heard people say that certain sound frequencies can induce a trip and that seems to have some potential, plus it is easy enough to test. I found some of these tones, fired up the surround sound, and gave it a go. The idea works on the same principal as Ajna Light but uses sound to attempt to change consciousness. This seemed to cause the most "trip" like change but only after "cheating" a bit with, lets say, a medicated brownie. After listening to buzzing noises for a few hours and trying to space out as much as I could, I did notice a feeling that reminded me of coming up on very low dose of mushrooms (maybe a gram or a little less). My thought process was starting to cross that trippy boundary but only by a toe. Things kind of wiggled in my vision and I could see some slight closed eye visuals that had a bit more substance than the ones produced by meditation or Ajna Light. This is an avenue that I am currently exploring and if I can find something that reliably works, I will write about it here. As it stands though, I still can't say that it is a viable substitute for real psychedelic exploration.
I don't want to sound like I am discounting these things but I have to be honest about my own experience. They don't seem to work very well for me and that is the sad truth. I would love to reach that psychedelic realm without having to break the (unjust) law. If I could conjure up those feelings on demand, that would be a huge breakthrough in my journey as a psychonaut but at this point, psychedelics are still the best option to get to where I want to go. I am curious to hear your thoughts on this subject. Have you ever tried these things and do you have a history with psychedelic substances? Have you had any success with these kinds of non-drug trips? If so, what worked to get you to that altered state?
Peace.
All the images in this post are sourced form the free image website, unsplash.com.
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Haha yeah I woke up to this which was nice because it only had .66 when I went to bed.
Thank you.
You can also see shadows out the corner is your eyes with sleep deprivation. (It happens more when you are sleep deprived while on amphetamine). You also more likely to be creative when you are sleep deprived, all the best ideas are thought of late at night.
The only time I've reached a state of enlightenment is during or in the afterglow period of a psychedelic trip. It usually lasts up to a few weeks to a few months. I've meditated a few times and it has been relaxing but for me it takes 30 - 45 minutes to get the relaxed state.
Yeah lack of sleep can do some stuff too. Psychedelics still work better than most of the other things and are much easier to use.
I tried meditation but I fall asleep. I tried to look long into the center of Sri yantra. It makes really some kind of visuals, after 5-7 mins of looking. Sleep deprivation seemed to me too hard to endure, for such a light effect of haze.
I watched one guy free-diver Guillaume Néry saying that practicing apnoe can produce strong LSD effect, for now I can not find this video I think they cut off this fragment.
I did not tried this but I'd like to know if someone tried.
Yeah I tend to fall asleep too. Some of these things work but I still have never found one that works better than real psychedelics.
I agree.
Good post. My experiences with meditation, et al. have been about the same. I agree with you: " I would love to reach that psychedelic realm without having to break the (unjust) law. If I could conjure up those feelings on demand, that would be a huge breakthrough in my journey as a psychonaut but at this point, psychedelics are still the best option to get to where I want to go."
Yeah it makes me wonder how many of thsese people who "sell" these ideas have actually had a few hits of acid or have eaten some mushrooms. Some must have but I think some of the hype comes from a misunderstanding of how trippy tripping is.
I agree with you. I think a lot is just hype. Perhaps, years of meditation can get you to a place more expansive in a way. I never got there, though, by meditating. LSD, mushrooms and peyote place in an enhanced and expansive space. It's never vague. It's up to the taker to use it for development or to just squander it by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think too many people use psychedelics as a social activity rather than as an exploration of them and the world in/around/of them. Those people would be better off playing frisbee or something together. Unfortunately, it's that type of individual who misuses the opportunity and then puts the experience down as a bummer. More people need to treat the use of psychedelics as a ritual to respect and to cherish.
Haha yeah. I have been guilty of that at times too but it often didn't work out well. I remember beingt taken to a party after eating some mushrooms and the whole trip was ruined until we finally left. The funny thing was some "adults" came up and told us we couldn't drink unless we had ID (super chill party right?) but we were way beyond alcohol in terms of "buzz" lol. We immediately garbed some beers and sat down but beer and mushrooms did not mix well and the drunken antics of the people around us seemed unpleasant to our tripping minds so we had to flee that place and retreat back to a nice quiet house. Then I sadly (or not) squandered my chances with a friends little sister. I think she wanted me to date her but I was a little too far gone to pick up on the signals and I missed out on the opportunity but I heard she turned out to be a train wreck so that might have worked out in my favor lol.
Yep. Been there and done that. I agree about alcohol not mixing well. Pot and beer compliment each other pretty well, but I never found much enjoyment or benefit from brewed grain when on psychedelics. Actually, I've never craved very much liquid while tripping. Smoking, however, mixes very well. Either pot or cigarettes. I guess it's the ghostlike smoke, like visible air, or something. No doubt, one reason many shaman rituals use smoke in some way. Liquid is too weighty, like food. Calories are highly appreciated when you are coming down from the adventure.
Agreed. I did enjoy eating during one trip. A friend had left some of us tripping at his empty apartment. When he came back after what seemed like hours he had a bunch of horrible fast food and for some reason it was just what I needed. The texture felt very strange though.
When you are on the arc of coming back to where your membranes seem to realize you're reforming and getting into the "accepted" mode, food or drink does become appealing. The "texture" does "feel very strange though."
By the way, I have one more chapter of Wackos 2 to upload. I'm wondering if I should go through the hassle of uploading Wackos 3. I think it has around 26 chapters. I found with uploading the first two, it gave me the chance to do one more edit of the work. In the process, I found things that I felt needed revision. The number of people who have read the books has been pretty dismal, but I think the editing has been useful. Therefore, I'll probably upload Wackos 3 as well. If not for anything else, it forces me to go through one more editing session.
All in all, though, I'm pretty bummed at how uninterested the blockchain is about contemporary literature. I know I shouldn't be since its par for the course. Cryptocurrency does have a little more appeal, I guess.
No doubt, I should fill the entries with a few pictures. I'm impressed how you're able to find relevant photos for your posts. For book chapters, though, I feel just doing the editing takes about all the time I have to devote to Steemit. If I had more time, I'd try to do more, but I'm too pressed by my other obligations. I guess, the best is to just keep posting the chapters. Eventually, I can add my other writings. That way, at least, they will survive.
Uploading would be a good idea. As far as pictures go, I usually save whatever looks interesting even if I don't have a use for it at the moment and I use it at some point in the future. I have had the best luck finding stuff on unsplash.com but there are others.
The way this site works doesn't seem super friendly to serialized posts because it is kind of hard to search for the first. The trick is getting a reader to go back and look at the first in the series. You already add links which is super helpful there.
Your work is pretty good. You just need to get more people coming to your page to see it. You have a couple of ways to go with that. Making some one-off kind of content (whatever you like writing about) could get some new people coming around and it would be easy enough to drop a link to the book at the end. I find that things in the range of 700 to 1200 words are short enough that they can be written in a few hours but long enough to have some substance. Promoting your stuff through resteems can help but it is a gamble and it often doesn't pay off (I have lost money on several posts). Talking to people here helps too but it is time consuming. If you make a few friends or catch someone's interest there is a good chance they will come around and see what kind of content you are making. Since you really don't use bots you could also try the nobidbot tag. The people there are looking for good content and there are some curie curators that look for stuff there so there is a chance that you get picked for a good upvote which draws a lot of attention to you. I saw someone else posting a novel there, in fact. The only catch is some of the people in that tag frown on using resteem services so it kind of has to be one or the other.